Crypto Faces Global AML Regulations by June 2019, Says Watchdog

The international watchdog focused on anti-money laundering (AML) regulations has said it plans to institute a global framework for cryptocurrency beginning in June next year.

As Reuters reports, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has taken a significant step forward in the process of regulating the famously unregulated market of digital currencies with its announcement this week.

FATF detailed plans to begin publishing rules that would set a standard for all cryptocurrency transactions, noting that global jurisdictions would be required to enforce certain licensing schemes or compliance checks on exchanges, financial service providers for initial coin offerings (ICO), and potentially digital currency wallet providers.

Marshall Billingslea, FATF’s president, was responsible for setting the early summer date for action next year following discussions this week between officials from 204 global jurisdictions.

The upcoming regulations come with a warning: any non-compliant countries will be put on FATF’s blacklist, meaning they will suffer from restricted access to the global financial system.

A statement released by the watchdog on Friday reads: “there is an urgent need for all countries to take coordinated action to prevent the use of virtual assets for crime and terrorism.”

A lack of global cooperation on cryptocurrency regulations until now has led to entirely different approaches being adopted by national governments, bringing uncertainty to crypto firms looking to expand their operations.

Countries have failed to agree on how best to manage the price volatility of the cryptocurrency market, and have been skeptical of wallets’ and exchanges’ inability to protect peoples’ investments on their platforms from hacks and ensuing theft.

During the G20 Summit earlier this year, leaders expressed a desire to expand existing international AML onto the cryptocurrency industry.

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